 The devastating air raid on Pearl Harbor, in the early hours of December 7, 1941, came as a surprise, but not a complete surprise. For years, Japan viewed war with the West as inevitable. She needed room to expand. Looking out across the Pacific, Japan saw the colonies of Europe and the United States. Despite threats from the Western powers, Japan decided she needed colonies too. Japanese expansion began against the weaker nations of Southeast Asia, Korea, China, Indochina, with designs on Burma and Singapore. This left only the United States standing in Japan's way. America still reeling from the Great Depression of the 1930s, focused on restoring its economy at the expense of its armed forces. The Japanese military knew it couldn't win a long, drawn-out war with America. If they were going to fight, they would have to hit hard, fast, and first. Japan faced a now-or-never dilemma. They chose now. The Japanese adopted a two-pronged approach. They prepared for war before the end of the year, while continuing diplomatic efforts for peace. The U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, insisted Japan not only remove all troops immediately from China and Indochina, but that she withdraw from the Tripartite Act. The Japanese government refused. Feeling these demands were too harsh, Cordell Hull stood his ground. Meanwhile, secret preparations for an attack on Pearl Harbor continued. Two-man crews trained in midget submarines would be used against targets on Battleship Row in Japanese spies on Oahu, reported on the movements of the American fleet, harbor security, and conditions at the naval and army airfields around the island. To achieve surprise, a daring plan was developed. The Japanese knew that the American patrol aircraft out of Hawaii, Wake, and Midway, flew patrols within a 500-mile radius. The planes did not patrol to the north, above the 40th parallel. No Japanese naval ship in the 10 years had crossed the Pacific in December north of this latitude. The winter conditions made such a crossing too perilous and revealing too difficult. Any attack by the Japanese was expected to come from the south, so in Tokyo the decision was taken. The hazardous 40th parallel would be the approach to Pearl Harbor. In Washington, a coded telegram was sent to all U.S. military commands in the Pacific. The peace talks with the Japanese were not going well. All installations were alerted to be on the lookout for Japanese moves against the Philippines, the Tai, or KRA, peninsulas, or Borneo. The warnings specified that if hostilities cannot repeat cannot be avoided, the United States desires that Japan commit the first over its act. The messages did not mention Pearl Harbor. In Washington, peace negotiations continued, but in name only. Japanese diplomats in America had not been told of the armada, steaming east 3,300 miles across an icy Pacific. Instructions were sent to Japanese ambassadors in Italy and Germany to inform Mussolini and Hitler that war may come quicker than anyone dreams. These messages were intercepted by American code breakers. Still, no one in the U.S. knew of, or even imagined, the war fleet bearing down on Pearl Harbor. On December 4th, the Japanese government decided to issue a formal declaration of war against the United States. On December 5th, a message was intercepted by the U.S. code breakers instructing the Japanese envoys to burn papers and destroy code machines. American intelligence knew an enemy attack was imminent, but where? U.S. military commands throughout the Pacific were on guard. At Pearl Harbor, vigilance was increased against sabotage or submarine attacks, but no other routines were changed. Air patrols took off as scheduled. Entire craft batteries were lightly manned. The sailors aboard ships in the harbor, soldiers in their barracks, settled in for a pleasant Hawaiian winter weekend. Early on December 7th, a cable arrived at the Japanese embassy in Washington. This was the formal declaration of war. 200 miles north of Hawaii, the Kido Butai, reached its launch point. At first light, pilots strapped themselves into their cockpits. Large ocean swells rocked the carriers. The deck swayed up to 15 degrees. These conditions would have canceled any exercise, but this was no drill. On the Akagi, the signal was given. The first zero, zoomed forward, off the deck, dipped to 15 feet above the ocean, then banked left and climbed. Following him was the first wave of the air assault, 183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes. In the pre-dawn gray and rocking seas, only one fighter crashed. The rest circled above the Pacific, towards a sleeping and unsuspecting Pearl Harbor.